Dear Friends “My relationships with my neighbours was okay but now not good because of my children and their friends. They complain a lot that my house is noisy,” responded a mother of 5 when asked what issues children in her neighbourhood faced. She added, “I know we have to be considerate but then where should my kids hang out?” …
Another Week Beyond – 1920
Dear Friends On 27 April 2019, a group of student volunteers from the Singapore University of Social Sciences held a debrief and concluded that their 6-session learning programme, Project K.R.O.N.O.S., held in their campus from 16 March to 20 April succeeded in providing children a safe environment to enjoy hands-on learning. We could not agree more and applaud them for …
Another Week Beyond – 1919
Dear Friends Last Saturday, a mother of two teenagers we shall call Rose arrived at our centre at 4.45 pm. Her meeting was scheduled for 6.30 pm but she said that she was happy just to wait for the rest. Rose’s health has been deteriorating over the past 2 years. She is now wheelchair bound and the meeting was arranged …
Another Week Beyond – 1918
Dear Friends When Jacey an intern from Youth Corps Singapore discovered that we had a baking programme that helped mothers gain some income, she thought up Project Oven Hearts to capitalise on Mothers’ Day sales. She was excited about the initiative as she got to put her entrepreneurial skills for a social purpose. She met the mothers, explained how an …
Another Week Beyond – 1917
Dear Friends About a year ago, we connected with a 16-year-old we shall call Sheryl. She was pregnant with her first child and she struck us a young woman who was scared but also very excited to be a mother. After she delivered, a medical social worker contacted us expressing concern that Sheryl lacked family support and was fending for …
Another Week Beyond – 1916
Dear Friends For the past 3 years, Richard Wee and his friends have been running FUNFIT, a fitness programme in our neighbourhoods. Once a week, children, youth and their caregivers would gather at an open space to run, skip, jump and simply move vigorously for 60 minutes. Richard has introduced the programme at 5 different localities and currently, 3 are …
Another Week Beyond – 1915
Dear Friends Another 25 children joined the Community Tabung, our monthly savings programme as we held the first session in their neighbourhood this week. Currently there are 177 children aged 12 years old and below who deposit their monthly savings into a common pool where the entire amount is doubled by a donor and then split equally to all who …
Another Week Beyond – 1914
Dear Friends Last year, attendance for a reading programme targeting 4 to 9-year olds was dwindling. There was always a bunch of dedicated volunteers waiting in our air-conditioned classroom but only a handful of children would show. Those who came always had a fun-filled learning experience and they left for home with a sense of achievement. However, not everyone came …